With his highly-anticipatedPrometheussequelAlien: Covenanthitting theaters this May, filmmakerRidley Scottis moving forward on his next film, which will start shooting around the same timeAlien: Covenanthits theaters. The filmmaker is finalizing plans to directAll the Money in the World, based on the true story of the kidnapping ofJohn Paul Getty III, withNatalie Portmanbeing eyed to play his motherGail Harris.Angelina Joliehad reportedly met for the role, but couldn’t sign on due to scheduling conflicts, with the director now trying to secureNatalie Portmanfor the role.
Deadlinereports thatRidley Scottis also seeking another A-list star to play the olderJohn Paul Getty Sr., who at the time of the kidnapping in 1973, was believed to be one of therichest men in the worldwith his oil fortune as the founder of the Getty Oil Company. The film will be financed by Imperative Entertainment, with the company’sDan FriedkinandBradley Thomasproducing alongsideRidley Scott,Mark HuffamandKevin Walshof Scott Free.Quentin CurtisandChris Clarkwill also produce.David Scarpa(The Last Castle,The Day The Earth Stood Still) wrote the screenplay, which landed on the Black List in 2015.
The story will be set in Italy, whereJohn Paul Getty IIIhad lived with his parents while his father,John Paul Getty Jr., lead the Italian division of the family oil business.John Paul Getty IIIwas raised in boarding schools and frequently attended nighclubs and left-wing demonstrations as a teen, before he was kidnapped in June 1973 at the age of 16. The kidnappers demanded a ransom of $17 million be paid, withJohn Paul Getty Sr.asking his grandfather to pay the ransom, which he refused to do. In November 1973, the kidnappers sent a lock ofJohn Paul Getty III’s hair and a human ear, threatening to keep mutilating him unless the reduced ransom of $3.2 million was paid.
Gail Harris had already divorcedJohn Paul Getty Sr.for nearly a decade when the kidnapping took place, having refusedJohn Paul Getty Sr.’s offer for millions of dollars, so she could raise her children on her own. When she came to him to ask him to pay the ransom money, he refused, both because of his notoriously thrifty ways, and because he believed that if he paid the ransom, it would encourage copycat kidnappings of all 14 of his grandchildren.Gail HarrisandJohn Paul Getty Jr.eventually convinced the oil magnate to pay the kidnappers $2.2 million, which was the highest amount he could claim as atax deduction, while borrowing his son an additional $700,000, which was to be repaid with interest, and the $2.9 million setJohn Paul Getty IIIfree.
John Paul Getty IIIspent his six months in captivity chained to a stake, and he underwent an operation in 1977 to rebuild the ear that had been cut off. He hadsubstance abuseproblems after the kidnapping, and in 1981, after imbibing a mixture of valium, methadone and alcohol, he suffered liver failure and a stroke, while also making him a quadriplegic, which he never fully recovered from. He passed away in 2011 at the age of 54, survived by his son, actorBalthazar Getty.Natalie Portmanis coming off her Oscar-nominated performance for playing another real-life character,Jackie Kennedyin the biopicJackie. With filming set to begin in a few months, we should have more casting updates onAll the Money in the Worldin the very near future.
